Showcase sham



G. P. BENDER SHOWCASE SHAM May 13, 1941.

Filed May 25, 1939 mgm L LU'ANL ug- Patented May 13, 1941 SHOWCASE SHAM George P. Bender, Greeniield, Ohio, assigner to The Waddell Company, Inc., Greenfield, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application May 25, 1939, Serial No. 275,713

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a showcase sham such as is used for example in connection with candy displays. Shams for showcases are not new but they have presented a number of difficulties as constructed in the past. The purpose of the sham, of course, is to present a supporting surface adjacent the glass cover of a showcase whereby candy or other goods may be placed upon the sham and give to the showcase a full appearance even though the compartment may be relatively empty.

In showcases of the type where there is a glass top and a glass front the loading of such a sham I becomes extremely dicult.

With the above facts in mind it is an object of my invention to provide a showcase sham which will have all the advantages of a conventional sham and which additionally will be easy to load. Another object of my invention is to provide a sham as above outlined whereby the height of the case may be reduced. A further object of. my invention is to provide a sham which is hinged adjacent the front so that the rear portion thereof may be lowered to simplify loading of the front of the sham.

These and other objects of my invention which will be set forth hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading this specication, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe a preferred embodiment.

Reference may be made to the drawing forming a part hereof and in which:

Figure 1 is a partial perspective View of a show case with parts broken away showing a number of. shams in place.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 but showing the sham in raised position and with the lowered position indicated in broken lines.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention, I provide a showcase of conventional type indicated generally at I9. This showcase may, if desired, be fitted with a showcase sub-bottom indicated generally at I I which may be of the form disclosed and claimed in a copending application in the name of Dean T. Waddell, Serial No. 282,576 filed July 3, 1939. The showcase preferably has glass or other dividing walls I2 to define within the showcase a plurality of compartments. The case, it will be noted, has a front wall of glass or other transparent material at I3 and the top of the case lis constituted of a sloping portion I4 and a horizontal portion I5. It will be clear, of course, that the particular form of the case does not form a limitation upon my invention.

The sham is made from thin sheet metal or the like and comprises a number of portions arranged to generally follow the contour of the case to provide a space upon which the contents to be displayed may be positioned, so that the showcase will have a filled appearance even though it may be relatively empty. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the sham comprises a front portion I6 preferably having a lip II which may serve to space the member I6 from the front face I3 of the case. The portion I6 is arranged substantially parallel to the face I3. Where a sub-bottom according to the above-mentioned Waddell application is used the portions I6 and I'I may conveniently fit between the face i3 and the hump I8 of the subbottom.

Hinged to the portion I6, as generally indicated at I9, is another portion comprising a series of planes 2i), 2 I, 22 and 23. It will be clear that the planes 20, 2I and 22 could be continuous and that the specific shape and disposition of these planes is not a limitation upon my invention. It is desirable that the terminal plane 23 be substantially vertical in order to prevent the articles which are being displayed from dropping out at the back of the sham; and it, of course, is desirable that the sham be in the main parallel to the top of the showcase. The specific construction of the hinge is, of course, no limitation upon my invention although I have shown it as comprising beads I9aA formed respectively on the ends of the members I5 and 20 and a wire ISb passing through said beads.

A number of hangers 24 are provided which include a hook-like portion 24a adapted to be engaged over the glass partitions I2, and a horizontally projecting lip 24h adapted to engage under the portion 2| of the sham to hold the same in operative position.

By reference to the drawing it will now be clear that when it is desired to load the front of the sham the clips 24 may be removed and the rear portion of the sham may be dropped about the hinge point I9 to the position shown in Fig. 1 and in broken lines in Fig. 2. As clearly seen in Fig. l, it is quite simple to load' the front portion of the sham when the rear portion thereof is lowered. When the front portion is completely loaded the sham is returned to the position sho-wn in Fig. 2 and the remainder thereof may then be filled.

Referring more particularly now to Fig. 3 Where a showcase is provided with a glass end, a channel member 25 may be soldered or otherwise fastened to the bottom of the sham in the region 2i to engage over a sham and wall 26. The wall 25 may be positioned by bearing against one or more angle pieces 27 which may be xed to the subbottom l i or if no sub-bottom is used, to the floor of the showcase i9. Thus it will be seen that t'ne front and end of the showcase may concurrently be given a filled appearance. It will, of course, be understood that the end wall 25 will be shaped to follow the contour substantially of the sham as seen in Fig. 2.

Having now fully described my invention, what I believe to be new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. In combination a display case having a base, a transparent front panel and at least one transparent top panel, and a sham made in two parts, the rst part comprising a portion adapted to conform to said base, and a second angularly related portion adapted to parallel said front panel, said rst mentioned portion adapted to maintain said second mentioned portion interspaced from said front panel, and a second part hinged to the 2. In combination a display case having a base, a transparent front panel and at least one transparent top panel, and a sham made in two parts, the first part comprising a portion adapted to conform to said base, and a second angularly related portion adapted to parallel said front panel, said rst mentioned portion adapted to maintain said second mentioned portion interspaced from said front panel, and a second part hinged to the first mentioned part and comprising a portion, substantially parallelng said top panel, means to support the second mentioned portion of said rst part in substantial parallelism with said front panel, and means for supporting Said second mentioned part in substantial parallelism with said top panel, said latter supporting means being detachable whereby said second mentioned part may be lowered on its hinge within said showcase to give ready access to the interspace between said first mentioned part and said front panel for filling it with contents, said means for maintaining the position `of said rst part comprising a removable metallic sub-base adapted to lie upon and in substantial conformity to the base ci said showcase, said sub-base having a ridge adjacent its forward end, the front face of said ridge adapted to parallel and support the second mentioned porti-on of said first part of said sham, and the rear face of said ridge adapted to form a scooping abutment, said sub-base having a length suiiicient to enable it to engage an abutment at the rear of said base to maintain the position of said sub-base and through it to maintain the position of, said rst part of said sham.

GEORGE P. BENDER. 

